“Christopher Froome’s TUE for oral use of glucocorticosteroids was granted on April 29, 2014 based on duly documented medical history and in compliance with the applicable UCI Regulations and the relevant WADA guidelines. The TUE was granted for a limited period, following the usual procedure.”

"The process was fully transparent as it is UCI’s policy to systematically record all TUEs on ADAMS. WADA was therefore informed throughout the process.”

“The UCI wishes to emphasise that under the applicable rules – which are consistent with the WADA Code and the WADA TUE Standard and Guidelines – any rider with the same symptoms as Christopher Froome would have received a similar TUE.”

Here's the scandal -- Any sporting organizatin that allows a competitor to compete while taking 40 mg of prednisone orally is eff'd up. Thats a serious dose and if Froome needed that to be competitive he wasnt fit to race. It is irresponsible on the part of his doctors and unfair to his competition. Other than that it was perfectly reasonable. This little bit of news has convinced me that pro-cycling is completely dirty. Again.

lsd, The scandal base on the first story was that The UCI (or someone in the UCI) didn't follow procedure. Based on follow up info, it appears that everything was done according to regulations. I was guilty of jumping to conclusions before getting more info, but I wasn't blaming Froome/Sky, I was blaming Dr. Z.

Stronz, who knows what's going on in the platoon, but if pred is the worst of it, cycling is cleaner than any pro sport (including collegiate). I agree that if a rider needs something for a "serious infection", they should take a break from racing until the infection is gone.

Stronz, I get your points. Just curious: are you certain about the specific drug and the dose? FWIW, a single 40mg dose of prednisone (slow release form most likely but I don't know what he took) is not a ton of drug. Usually an acute asthma flareup gets at least a few days of treatment.

"...Ahead of the Tour de Romandie, Le Journal du Dimanche reports, Sky team doctor Alan Farrell requested a TUE that would allow Froome to take 40mg per day of the oral corticosteroid prednisolone throughout the race. This request was reportedly granted and Froome proceeded to win the Tour de Romandie for the second successive year..."

One oral dose 40mg prednisone is one thing. but a week's worth is a serious regimen. Yeah it addresses his breathing issue but it also helps overall recovery, reduces muscle inflammation and generally makes you feel like superman. As someone who prescribes this medicine I can tell you it is not a baby dose. Yes you can go much higher, but 40mg Qday for a week is gonna have an effect on everything. As I wrote above if he needed that much pred to compete he was probably unfit to race. And then of course he was also given a very unfair advantage for recovery and performance during the week race.

I am starting to wonder about UCI. They say normal procedures were followed. Sounds like they were at the Sky end. But isn't UCI supposed to convene a panel of three doctors to approve such requests? This appears to not have been done and from what Stonz says, probably should have been.

Further, what UCI is saying nos sounds AWFULLY familiar. Like a decade of familiar. And this rider being a standing TdF winner. Deja vu.

I hope Cookson speaks up about this (or quietly goes around and makes if VERY cleary that this was not OK).

resurrecting this cause there's some interesting speculation over at CN regarding the "real" reason that SKY asked for the in-competition TUE for Froome: So here it is -- the prednisone was needed to mask what was going on in Froome's blood -- specifically Sky knew he was going to produce an echo-positive from a transfusion he took during or right before Roumandie so they ordered up a TUE for prednisone and it masked what was there or simply explained what was there.

Or he really needed it cause he was so ill and O yeah he won the race.

Granted, I read this report of a matter concerning a British team off an English website about an English head of UCI. Still, I think that this Cookson guy is pretty level headed and fair and seems to have the knack of rather simply just doing the next right thing. What a concept!

I think the TUE policy is effective now: “As an immediate measure, the UCI confirms that from now on, all TUE decisions will pass through the TUE committee.” The entire new rules package will roll out in January to line up with WADA's new code. That makes sense and is pretty standard for new rules to take affect Jan. 1 (or at the start of a new season in some cases), plus they need time to develop the new code before they can roll it out.